BP's Tatics in Cape Vincent Ny

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

“I discovered that there has been considerable underestimation of fatalities reported to the public by the Wolfe Island wind project”

By Danielle VandenBrink,

Kingston
Whig-Standard

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Excerpts:

A proposed wind farm
in southern Prince Edward County has the potential to have the highest bird
mortality rate in North America, an expert in the field claims.

A Bird's eye view of Wolfe Island

Bill Evans, an
ornithologist based in Ithaca, N.Y., who has studied the impact of turbines on
birds and bats, said the nine-turbine Ostrander Point Wind Energy Park — to be
located on a peninsula on the south shore of Prince Edward County — could cause
“serious and irreversible” harm to some species in the province.

Evans, who was hired
by the Prince Edward County Field Naturalists to study the potential impact of
the project on bird mortality, gave his testimony to a tribunal in the county
Friday.

“I
discovered that there has been considerable underestimation of fatalities
reported to the public by the Wolfe Island wind project,” Evans said.

“In my
tribunal testimony, I noted a discrepancy between positions taken by (the
Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources) and Environment Canada regarding the
distance of carcasses (that) land from the base of a wind turbine.”

In the case of Wolfe Island, Evans said more than 50% of bird and bat carcasses
fall within a 50 metre radius of the turbines. However, based on his analysis
of bird mortality at Maple Ridge, 40% of small birds fall within the 50 to
80-metre radius of the turbine base.

Evans
questioned why government researchers failed to include carcasses found beyond
a 50-metre radius in the Wolfe Island study.

“This
appears tantamount to a cover up, but I have no direct evidence,” he said.

Evans
argued bird mortality will also be impacted by the site of the proposed
Ostrander Point project.

“The Ostrander wind
project could have, by far, the highest bird mortality per megawatt in North
America,” he said. “I
base this on the fact that if the nearby Wolfe Island project’s 2010 fatality
data is corrected for estimated fatalities out of 80 metres, it would have 8.9
bird fatalities per megawatt, which ... is the highest bird fatality in North
America for any wind farm with more than three turbines. I pointed out to the
tribunal that Wolfe Island, while it has notable concentration of birds, does
not have the large concentrations of migratory land birds caused by the
funnelling dynamics of the (Prince Edward County) peninsula.”

Evans said the
estimated number of bird and bat deaths would not have a significant impact on
global populations of any one species. However, for certain species
experiencing declining populations, such as the purple martin, he said, the location
of the Ostrander Point project could have a major impact.Continue reading via
this link to [The Whig]

Buzzard ~ Wellesley Island

St. Lawrence river ~ Freighter

PROTECT GALLOO ISLAND FROM A WIND PROJECT

Hudson Energy filed a public involvement document with the Public Service Commission (PSC) on 6/16/15.

The approval process is now under Article 10 of the Public Service Law. The case number is 15-F-0327 and the matter # is 15-01278.

The attorney handling the case is Andrea Cerbin.

Her phone number is (518) 408-1441.

The link to the PSC site is below. On that site you will find Hudson Energy's preliminary Public Involvement Program (PIP) and the PSC response (they found it inadequate on several issues). In it you will see that the proposed transmission lines go south to Oswego.